Learning By Doing-How and Why to Use this Approach

Education is not just limited to classroom curriculum; it also includes learning programs and instructional approaches. Whenever you think of the term education, you may think of classrooms, technology, reading materials, and teachers. These resources enhance your learning experiences, but you also require more than these essential resources. Classroom enhances the professional and technical skills essential to excel in the professional world. However, other skill sets are equally important for you. These skills include communication, creativity, social intelligence, teamwork, and emotional literacy. You can learn all these skills and much more through the learning by doing approach. Getting exposed to practical problems will help you find a way to excellence.

Various educational institutions believe that education requires more than classroom instruction. It needs to build mindsets that can thrive in the ever-changing world. These mindsets are called the entrepreneurial mindset and help you create your space. It teaches you different measures of approaching life. Mindset-focused training is essential to make you aware of your skills and the environment you are living in.

What is learning by doing?

Learning by doing is based on the idea that we learn more when we experience the processes practically. For example, imagine you want to master playing guitar; however, you cannot learn it until you start practicing the tunes yourself. You may take help from online and offline resources, but you need to start playing to understand how it works.

Learning by doing was first introduced and popularized by the American education reformer John Dewey. For him, it was a way to enhance student engagement. This practice broke the popular notion that learning happens in the classroom through lectures and rote memorization.

Skills gained by following the learning by doing approach

Learning by doing helps you get clarity on yourself and the environment around you. Some of the skills that you get from this approach are:

Awareness of oneself

One of the greatest sayings by the American education reformer John Dewey is, “We do not learn from experiences, rather we learn from reflecting on experiences.” If you are encouraged to perform activities without worrying about criticism, you may come up with new and innovative ideas. If you fail, you will try to understand why your proposal did not work. Therefore, learning by doing allows you to be critical of your work.

Awareness of others

Collaboration is a key skill to achieve success. Through learning by doing, you will understand how your peers can help you perform better. It has been noted that teamwork and belief in one another can give better results.

Awareness of the environment

Learning by doing helps you understand various internal and external factors. As a result, you become aware of the happenings of the world.

To get the best results and make the most of your learning, you need to be aware of yourself, your peers, and your vicinity.

How can you encourage learning by doing in your classrooms?

Low-stake quizzes are one of the best ways to promote learning by doing in the classroom. These quizzes are not designed to evaluate your performance; instead, they help you engage with the content and generate the learned information from your mind. Low-stake quizzes make learning a matter of active and effortful processes.

Some other practices that make learning by doing effective in a classroom setup are:

Observe experts

Learning by observing is a great way to expand your knowledge. For example, if you want to master painting, see how other artists work. Observe their way of color selection and drawings to get the most benefits.

Practice

While watching others when they are doing the tasks is a good way to learn. However, you will get the most benefits when you keep practicing.

Try brain-stimulating activities

Brain-stimulating activities establish a good connection between the brain and the hand. You may learn a new language, musical instrument, or coding to boost your brain. Moreover, your skills get better when you apply the learning by doing approach.

Learning never goes out of style. It enhances your skills and makes you try new things that you have never done before. If learning is included in the early development years of kids, it will build their cognitive abilities and motor development. So follow the methods mentioned above and keep learning.

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